116 responses to “Say Hi”

  1. Hi Paul,

    Just heard about your trip through Olly Robinson. Looks absolutely amazing. I’ve bookmarked your site and look forward to seeing how you get on.

    All the best and Good luck!

    Spencer

  2. The Big Day is here Paul, best wishes to you on your epic journey from Karen and Paul. We look forward to following the story…..

    • Cool! Thanks sue, I seriously considered doing the great divide as part of the trip but wimped out and opted for the pacific coast route. Maybe another time…Cheers

  4. Hi Paul! It sounds so great, the pictures are stunning! I hope the high points are good enough to make up for the lows, James and I have resorted to singing on hills before now but I suspect nothing compared to your mountains! I was wondering how your kit is working out? Have you thrown anything away yet or had to buy anything new? Enjoy your beers! Bethan x

    • Hey Bethan, the kit has worked pretty flawlessly so far actually, it’s just the rider who’s struggled! Some of the guys I’ve met coming the other way have had incredible amount of gear with them, so apparently I’m travelling quite ‘lightweight’. I can’t see myself changing anything in the foreseeable, my only addition so far has been some ‘bear spray’… The Brooks has been taking it’s toll on my rear end but I think she’s starting to loosen up now!
      Hope all’s well
      Paul

  5. Hey Paul
    Wonderful to see your pics and follow your journey. We wish you well -what a fantastic adventure
    Mands & Paul
    xx

  6. Hi Paul!
    Clearly not only your mum will be reading your blog 🙂 I will be following your stories.
    When reading your stories you push me to build and realise my own dreams. I actually start next week with the GR20 trek across Corsica. Have a great time on the road!
    Domi

    “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” Buddha

  7. Hi mate – i’m sat on the train to london paddington on a monday morning and thought I would send a note to wish you well.Good to hear you have made it though the first couple of weeks intact! I was suprised when you said you lost weight – that just widens the gap (already considerable) between you and I on hill climbing ability.I assume this “bear spray” is just a deodorant for hairy adventurer types like yourself (sort of like “sex panther”)?

  8. Loving the blog Paul keep grinding those gears a strong head wind is the bane of all cyclists lives.

    Keep safe

  9. Hey Paul, loving the updates!
    Certainly a world away from revision. I second John’s query about weight loss, didnt know there was much for you to lose. Also excited that you finally saw a bear, 8 years after the slovakia trip my count is still at zero.

  10. Hi P-P, just had the link from Ben. Some bloody good photos so far old chap. Enjoy the journey. That squirrel had some impressive nails!
    cheers, Nigel

  11. Hey Paul – loving those photos! As I said when you left home: “may the wind be always on your back!” – to get even this far is an awesome effort – I do hope your health stays good. Will look out for more super-cool blogs – stay safe. Ken

  13. Good luck Paul, you are on an epic journey. My Mom is your Granddad’s cousin Sheila my name is Julie & I live in Calgary.

  14. Hi Paul, I’m Peter Marshall, Julie’s (previous post) Dad. I live in Vancouver, BC, where you should be today. I e-mailed you – please contact me. Thanks.

  15. Paul,
    Thanks for your message. It’d be quality to see you and have you to stay. We will be somewhere in Guatemala City. Currently living with a family, as I learn Spanish, and will move into our own place at the beginning of November. Congrats on getting chartered, I joined the club before heading out here. Ride safe.

  16. Fairbanks checking up on you, Paul. Looks like you’re making good progress. Love the pictures and the humor. Safe riding! Ray (from Billie’s)

  17. Paul – very inspiring. gee the ducktape sounds creative. Great photos. I know what you mean on bike trips of not having time. 100 miles is a fair whack. Any time though for learning Spanish? Fergus

  18. Hi Paul,
    Merry Christmas,
    I hope you are having a good break from the bike in Baja and James isn’t leading you too far astray. Thanks for the Team 2 Christmas card – the homeless man with a bike look really suits you, although it isn’t that different from most mornings in the office from what I can recall.
    Have a good new year and take care with the next leg of the journey when you get going again.
    Mike
    ps. the Soul is up and rolling, and bloody hell it’s a nice bike to ride. If you’ve killed your Explosif you should replace it with a Cotic on your return (if you ever want to ride a bike again!)

    • Hey Mike, Good to hear from you and glad the card found its way to you guys! The Cotic sounds like a beast, welcome to the world of suspension – it’s something I’m starting to miss now that the roads are getting lumpier…

      Have a cracking xmas and new year!

  19. ¡Hola Paul!
    ¡Felices fiestas de fin del año!
    Thank you for sharing your hectic adventures and fabulous pictures. It is always a pleasure to read a new post.
    Back from Reunion island, marvellous destination for trekking by the way, your last post just incite me to plan the next departure.
    For this part of your trip I hope your spanish will improve quickly, I know how frustrating it is to be unable to communicate properly with people (my own experience of french speaker travelling abroad ;-)). Take care.
    Peggy

    • Hey, Happy New Year! Thanks for the message, Reunion Island sounds great, I’ll have to add it the ever growing list. The spanish is coming along, albeit slowly…
      Cheers
      Paul

  20. Grifter!! Checking in now again to see how you are grifting on! Keep up the good work mate. I’m very jealous of the trip!

    Ben

  21. Hi Paul
    Muy bien escuchar que llegaste en tiempo a la punta de baja california! You must have made at least the triple of our distance in the same time!
    Checking regularly your homepage for brilliantly-written commentarys to your adventures, we are never decieved. As well: congratulations for your wonderful photos, WOW, they are just fantastic!
    We specially laughed at the picture of your dirty stove: do still not know how you managed to get it that black ?!?
    Hope a lot, that your tendon d’achille, the calfs, the back (and I do not know what else…) is better?

    Keep going, and wish you lots of power to pedal on!
    Mirjam & Marion

    (eg: we had the pleasure that you put up your tent next to ours in Big Sur, don’t know wether you remember? We made it well to San Fran (against some strong headwind) and back home: but dreaming strongly of hitting the road again)

    • Hey Mirjam & Marion, great to hear from you! Yes all the aches and pains have thankfully settled down now, in fact literally the day I left you guys it got loads better. I was thinking of you as I was getting blown along Big Sur – it must’ve been a tough grind to San Fran! Good luck plotting the next adventure, all the best, paul

  22. Hi Paul, Conall Doherty told me of your travels. Beats the Bristol to Bath run in the rain by the looks of it. Keep it up. All the best. Rob Cooke.

  23. Hi Paul,
    David (Dave), told me about yor blog. Just been reading it and looking at the photos. I thought from the start that what you were doing was amazing, and now even more so! (Haven’t heard much about Cuba yet, but no doubt will in time!) Have you ever considered being a travel writer or journalist? You write very well and your photography’s pretty cool! Anyway, hope you don’t get too saddle sore, and take care for the rest of your trip.
    Elaine x

  24. Greetings!
    I’m really glad I came across your blog! It is so well written and your photographs are great. Love the long exposure shots! I’m curious as to what kind of camera you are carrying.

    • Thanks Tyler, I’m using an Olympus OMD EM5 (micro four thirds format), possibly the perfect camera for adventure travel photography; tough, relatively compact and there’s a great selection of lenses available.

  25. hi Paul
    Looks like you’re having a brilliant time. well done on the photographs, really impressive! Sophie and Jake are currently in Africa on part of a one year ‘trip’ – going by their safari photos you’d better add that to your list, it’s on mine! We’re going to Oz to visit them in August, take care mate, Nigel

  26. Hey Paul,
    My name is Patrick, I am doing a trip similar to this starting October 1st in Fairbanks where I am from. Would love to hear of things to not leave without! Loving the blog and the photos!

    Safe Journeys!

    • Hey Patrick, Great to hear from you, I have fond memories of Fairbanks! Very impressed at your intended start date, although I imagine you’re pretty used to chilly conditions. I have a kit list on the site of everything I left home with, and will update it soon with my new slimmed down gear. Instead of recommending things to take I’d recommend considering what not to take, I, along with most other long distance riders, started off with too stuff much compared to what I realistically needed. A bit of advice if you’re not already aware of it though, is to set up a ‘Warmshowers’ profile and make the most of all the great hospitality on offer up North. It can be a lonely road up in those northern reaches and it made all the difference for me, not to mention having somewhere warm and dry to sleep – something you’ll likely be in need of!
      If you have another other questions don’t hesitate to ask. I’m sure you’ll have an incredible trip, I’ll keep an eye on your website. Good luck with the final preparations!
      Cheers
      Paul

      • Yeah, I know… However that is the soonest I can take off! depending on the weather I will either ride all the way through Canada or simply catch the ferry to from Skagway to Prince Rupert! I have a mountain bike that would work great nice aluminum frame and lightweight wheels but it needs a rigid fork and I would like to have drop handlebars.. or I might look into some other bike.. What are some big things to leave home? I also have some questions about posting to the internet and what not. would love to hear the best ways to keep in service for blog posts

        Thanks for the Reply!
        Patrick

      • Hey Patrick, I took the ferry from Haines, it was incredible, certainly something to consider, lines of trees get tiring after a while! In terms of what to leave out, it really varies from person to person, but I started with too many clothes, spare parts, tools and things I rarely used like a rucksack. It looks like you’ve got a wordpress site all ready to go, which is great. I’m not someone who likes to be tied to updating things every couple of days, in my opinion that can detract from the trip itself. I just use wifi when it’s available and update things then. You’ll be amazed at how widespread wifi is throughout central america (and south america thus far), so as long as you’ve got a smart phone/tablet/laptop you’ll be fine.
        All the best
        Paul
        PS don’t skimp on the wheels, they’re probably the most important part of the set up and where you’ll have the most problems if they’re too lightweight.

  27. Goodness me, a year already: Happy Anniversary tomorrow (August 5th) Paul – well done!!!! A continuing safe and successful odyssey is wished for you – you are an inspiration.

  28. Paul,
    Congratulations on your progress! I am undertaking the same trip for charity – leaving for AK in a week… Any short advice you can offer based on your experiences? Also, about how many days per month are you riding v resting? Good luck on the rest of your journey!

    • Hey, are you starting from Prudhoe? I am starting my trip from Fairbanks on the 16th of september! Thought we might get together to chat about what your plans are, gear etc

    • Thanks Damian, you’ll have an amazing trip I’m sure. There’s a lot of advice I could give but I’m sure you’ve heard most of it before, here’s a couple of key nuggets though:
      -Take advantage of all hospitality on offer (warm showers, casas de ciclistas, random invitations etc). Getting to meet loads of different people will really add to the trip and not to mention saving money
      -Try and learn some Spanish if you haven’t already before you hit Mexico, audio tutorials whilst on the bike worked great for me (I used the ones by Michel Thomas)
      -Rest days are key to avoiding ‘burn out’, I’d say I try not to ride more than a week without taking a day off and overall I reckon I’ve probably had almost as many days off the bike (due to big chunks off) as I have on it.
      -Which leads to scheduling….try not to set yourself over-ambitious timeframes, it’s then frustrating when you don’t meet them and means you’ve always got one eye on the clock. Obviously the seasons dictate to an extent but there’s always some leeway.
      -Less is more when it comes to luggage. I’m about to downsize yet again.

      Feel free to email with any more specific Q’s and best of luck with the ride! I’ll check out your site to see how you get on…

      Paul

      • Thank you for getting back to me! I am currently in Billies kitchen getting ready to write my first posts. It’s colder than usual this year, and I am taking the Rockies route vs. the ferry – so I am leaving in the AM I think in order to beat winter hopefully. My next major stop will be Haines Junction. I hope the next leg of your trip goes well! best.

  30. Hi Paul,

    I came across your blog today, searching for Ushuaia+bike+2014. I must say your blog it is very, (very) well done. I know it demand a great effort to upload ( very impress with the amount of good quality pictures here ) all these marvelous information; be sure that lots of people (me for instance) enjoy and also appreciate your job. Keep up the good work! 😀
    I can also imagine you celebrating a rapid wi-fi connections down here in south america and uploading your photos on the road. It is a nice occupation for solitary travelers.
    Here it is my good lucky message(write in my native language РPortuguese): Que bons ventos soprem a seu favor meu amigo, levando voc̻ e sua bicicleta pelo melhor e mais bonito caminho.

    Suerte!

    • Hi Luiz, thank you so much for the kind message and thanks for visiting! From your website it looks like you’re no stranger to bike travel yourself…

      All the best

      Paul

  31. hi paul, cousin chris andrews here. Awesome seems to be the word of the moment and having read a couple of pages of your recent blogs the only word that comes to mind is AWESOME. The challenges you have faced are epic.
    kind regards
    Chris

  32. Hi Paul,
    We’ve met in Guatemala (in Flores if I remember well) I am Shani, French designer girl.
    It’s been a while and you must have seen so many things since Guate… hope you enjoyed it!
    What you are doing is amazing. I check where you are from time to time and it is very inspiring. Keep being incredibly strong and keep your heart pure.
    I wish you all the courage for times to come, cheers!
    Shani

    • Hey Shani, great to hear from you and thanks for the kind words. Flores seems so long ago now! I hope all’s well with you, let me know if you ever venture across to the UK, it’d be great to cross paths again.
      Paul

  33. I join, and enthusiastically endorse, the accolades – Paul – a wonderful adventure for you, and I am so appreciative you are sharing it with us – I am absolutely in awe.

    Peter Marshall in Vancouver

  34. Hey Paul. Wow! You’ve been busy since I last checked your site in June! I thought I’d just quickly have a look at what’s been happening and here I am four hours later having read every post you’ve made since then. Great work, I love how you’ve taken the adventurous routes off the beaten path. Definitely tough work but invaluable memories and vistas to stick with you. Obvious standouts were the arrest, the 63km mountain bike race and the endless up and down dirt roads you’ve trudged. No pain no gain. You’ve been lucky to find a riding buddy too for so long!

    I’m amazed at how much work you’ve put into this blog. Incredible work. Looking forward to reading more.

    I’ve just finished my first year back at uni since returning from Canada. Good to get exams out of the way at last. Now only 11 days until my brother and I set off on our 8 week cycle tour of New Zealands south island! Exciting times.

    • Hey, Good to hear from you and that your NZ trip is getting underway! Thanks for the kind words and best of luck for the ride. In terms of security, if I leave the bike for any length of time I usually find someone trustworthy to leave it with (hostel owner etc) or if I’m in the middle of nowhere simply stash it in some trees or behind a boulder. My lock is very minimal so I tend not let the bike out of my sight when stopping in cities to eat, buy stuff etc and then can normally take it into a hostel room. For wild camping I’m never worried.

      All the best

      Paul

      • Hey good buddy – finally we arrive at the year your odyssey will be completed – goodness how your endeavours have enriched my life, inspired me, and impressed me – safety and good health be your constant companions for the rest of the ride. Thank you so much for allowing me to vicariously share the trip of a lifetime. I hope one day (soon) you’ll come back to Vancouver. Happy new year!

  38. Hi Paul

    Nice to meet you in the middle of “I don’t actually know”?! But close to Chile. Hope you have fun 🙂

    /Ditte (from Denmark)

    • Hey, great to hear from you Ditte. Yep that was laguna colorada, you jeep tourists! I’m just about to leave san pedro, all quite different to bolivia… Good luck with the rest of your trip and let me know if you find yourself back in the UK at any point..

      Paul

  40. Hi Paul, this is absolutely incredible. I am currently sat in my flat in Northampton struggling to motivate myself to get off the sofa and go for a one-hour bike ride. I’ve only been following you since Columbia but have been reading back to catch up on your trip thus far. I am sure the detail in your posts will be invaluable to other nutters planning similar rides and makes very interesting reading for people like me who enjoy far less intense outdoor activities.
    And of course happy birthday, hope you have a good day today!
    Greatly looking forward to following the rest of your journey. Ps I recommend you take some US dollars into Argentina and ask around about the local exchange rate for pesos.

    • Hi Josh, thanks for the message, great to hear from you! Don’t worry I suffer from couch adhesion as well, especially when it comes to uk winter riding… It seems the mighty dollar is the way to go for Argentina like you say, cheers.

      Paul

  41. Hi Paul
    Great to read how you are getting along. you write really well and some excellent photos. Having read your piece on ‘lightweight’ v ‘heavyweight’ and your various photos of all your kit laid out, I’m getting a bit concerned you are turning into an anorak! I am tempted to say you need to get out more! 🙂
    hope you enjoy the rest of your current journey and whatever the next one is! Will be great to see you again later this year. Cheers mate, Nige

    • Thanks (or maybe not?) Nige! It’s a slippery slope when it comes to gear geekery, especially when there’s little else to keep the brain cells occupied..

      Cheers

      Paul

  42. Birthday? Oh yes Happy Birthday, from Vancouver, Paul – a memorable one for you regardless – how many do you get to celebrate in Chile….Peter Marshall.

  45. hi mate
    you do write a great story Paul, even though it’s sometimes with your anorak fully zipped! your hub has taken a pasting. sorry to see you lost your macbook, hey ho,
    very best of luck with the final stage of this journey and I totally agree it’s very much about enjoying the journey, arrival will eventually be very final!
    looking forward to seeing you.
    cheers
    nige

    • Cheers Nige, I’m trying my best not to turn into a complete anorak, it’s just all so fascinating though! Catch you in the summer, paul

  46. Wow! nearing 600 days on the road, as milestones go. Absolutely amazing, and I am sure you’ll never regret a day of this challenging, and wisely spent time. The end is in sight. Well done!!!!!

  49. “Saturday 16 May 2015 22:33 Ushuaia. Fin del viaje.” …
    Congratulations !! Inspiring journey.

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